Jump City Chronicles
by Kaguras Man
Summary: The trials and tribulations of everyones favorite teenage super heroes. Act One: Despairity loves company. What started as the simple arrival of a new street gang will become everything but simple.


A/N: Well here we go. My first attempt at an epic Titan's fic. I know, I know! There's a lot of stiff competition when it comes to good Teen Titan fics. If my work can be half as good as theirs then I'll consider it a victory.

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Tyrone Banks glanced about nervously as his partners in crime continued carting the crates filled with their cargo into a large armored van. He swallowed, his plasma rifle wavering in his trembling grip. His eyes darted to and fro as he warily kept guard. He idly wondered why all heists always had to take place in such creepy settings. Empty trainyards and massive warehouses such as this one. What he'd give just pillage loot in the friendly sunlight just once. Sure, chances of being caught were more likely during the day, but it was better than the alternative. Towers of crates lined the walls of the building, and there was a metal staircase at both entrance and exit that led up to a large cross-shaped scaffold. It was up there that three robotic arms hung silently, powered down for the night. It was these arms that workers used to move the heavy crates off of conveyor-belts and into trucks for distribution.

"Yo, T-Bone! Would ya stop all that fidgeting!" Loc snapped as he hoisted another large crate into the van. It should have been impossible for a mere teenage punk to lift the obviously heavy crates, let alone shove them up into a van. That was no longer a problem thanks to their new leader. What had started as some barely recognized gang from Bludhaven, had become a formidable force thanks in part to their rational thinking boss. Thanks to him they had not only found a major foothold in Bludhaven's underworld hierarchy, but they now had the power and recruits to move to other cities.

Jump City in this case.

Tyrone, or T-Bone, as he was known in the Ravagers, stared at the more calm man incredulously. "Are you kidding me? This is Titan territory man! How can you not be scared?"

Loc rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, newbies! Look kid we been in dis bidness long fo' you, son. We don' went toe to toe wit' freaks worse than some punk ass Titans!" He flexed his muscles, which were far more powerful thanks to the enhanced exo-suit he wore. The suit more resembled a skeleton that fit over Loc's body. The suit was made from a special form of plastic that was attached to a spandex-stlye body armor that Loc wore to multiply his strength times twenty. It came complete with an egg-shaped helmet with tech-goggles that gave the gang member the ability to zoom his vision in and out, not mention warn him of incoming projectiles. Weaponry like this should have been impossible for a mere street thug to acquire, and that had indeed been the case until Despair made his debut. He glanced at his friend Trek. "Tell 'im bout that time we took on that Nightwing punk!"

Trek shoved the last crate into the van. He also wore a tech-suit but unlike Loc, his was a more traditional version. A standard exo-suit created by Lexcorp that consisted of metal hands, an upper torso guard, and a helmet that shield all but his mouth and nose with a black face guard. "Dawg! I remember that! We threw some serious boes on dat fool!"

"Enough chatter, ladies," a voice replied coolly. It was Rza, second in command of the Jump City sect of the Ravagers. The large black man dressed in an expensive designer jumpsuit glanced at his 14-karat gold watch. "Besides that bird got away if I recall. It doesn't count if he lives. It's eleven on the dot. Time to head out and meet the others up front." He motion for his cohorts to follow. "We don't want to keep Despair waiting."

"I'm afraid he'll be disappointed." A voice from the shadows announced as the thugs tensed.

A birdarang spun out of the shadows, smacking the plasma rifle out of T-Bone's trembling hands.

"AAAUUUGH! SHIT!" T-Bone's eyes were as large as dinner plates. "The Titans! I knew it!"

Robin leaned casually agianst a wall of crates idly waving a birdarang at the criminals. "And don't worry about the rest of your friends out front." With tip of his head he motion for the Ravagers to glance behind them.

They obeyed and caught sight of the largest member of the Titans leaning agianst the futuristic looking car that he himself had built. Just how the hell had he drove the damn thing into the warehouse without them even noticing was beyond them. "Because we've already served them up a colossal can of whoop ass!" Cyborg announced. His mechanic eye glared unwaveringly while his human eye narrowed into a venomous slit.

Robin smiled at Cyborg the briefest moment before bringing his seemingly lazy gaze back to the gang members. "See, my friend and I made this bet. He bet me twenty bucks that you punks wouldn't go quietly but I bet him you'd do the right thing." All the while he spoke he was oblivious to the two Ravagers who made their way towards him while keeping themselves hidden amongst the various crates and machinery. Robin and Rza locked gazes. "Sure you could attack us. Of course we all know it would result in me and my metal compadre giving you a beating beyond your worst nightmares.

Rza had figured the Titans would show up. That's why he had the good forethought to have six Ravagers remain positioned amongst the warehouse just in case. He'd been right, of course, and now he couldn't help but smirk as two of his henchman trained their blasters at the Boy Wonder's unprotected side.

The two punks never saw the shadows behind them turn even darker as two large claws of pure obsidian emerged, capturing the men in their unrelenting embrace.

"GAH!" "WHA!" Neither men spoke another word as the claws collided with one another, smashing the two Ravagers into one another and giving them a one way ticket to Dreamland.

And Robin never once took his eyes of the shocked Rza's. He had to admit that Cyborg had been right. This was wickedly fun! He continued chatting as though he was completely unaware that his life had just been in jeapordy...or maybe it never had and that was why he kept that cocky smile on his face. "So be a bunch of good guys and help me collect my twenty bucks."

T-Bone finally snapped out of his terrified stupor long enough for his brain to come up with a logical solution. Run. "Screw this!" He made a beeline for the nearest exit only to be sent tumbling back by the force created by something large and green landing in front of him. Slowly, as if terrified to justify his assumption, he glanced up into the menacing white eyes that belong to an unfriendly looking emerald gorilla.

The beast raised its fists high, as if to strike. "RAAAAUUUUGH!" Then grinned cheerily at the sight of a passed out T-Bone before morphing into the smaller black and purple spandex wearing Beastboy. "I love my work!" He jumped as three of Rza's 'strategically hidden' Ravagers were dumped near him on the floor. He smiled up at the orange skinned beauty with flaming red hair. "Good going, Star!"

Starfire returned the smile as she shifted her hovering form to glare down at Rza's pack.

Loc turned a dial on the back of his wrist, powering up his suit, then charged Robin, swinging a mighty fist. "HAAAH!" The Boy Wonder cartwheeled away as Loc's fist smashed into a crated where he'd been standing. "Shit!" The gang member held his free arm up to shield himself as the wall of crates crashed in on top of him. The power of his exo-suit didn't keep him down long as he freed himself with one massive shrug. "GRAAAAH!"

Robin stood his ground, folded his arms across his small chest. Smirking, he gave Loc a nod to try agian.

"YAAAAH!" Loc charged in with a right hook that Robin dodged. "HAAH!" Robin rolled between the his legs as Loc swung agian then whipped his boot up to strike Loc in the back of his head. "Mmmph!" Loc teetered forward then attacked with a vicious 180 spinning backfist. "HA!" Robin had backflipped away long before Loc had even spun around.

The smirk never leaving his face, Robin launched two birdarangs that spun through the air and ascended on Loc. The first projectile caught Loc right between his goggle-covered eyes.

"ACK!" Loc's head snapped upwards as the second birdarang smacked into his right ankle, whipping his leg out from under him and forcing his legs far apart in a horizontal split position. "AIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" Loc squealed as Robin lunged with a spinning heel kick. SMACK! Then unsheathed his titanium staff, separating the weapon into two bolos, and jammed the tips into the side ports of Loc's helmet. Loc's helmet bled sparks and smoke from the sides, not to mention gave Loc himself a good shock that effectively knocked him out.

The combined blasts of Cyborg's sonic cannon and Starfire's starbolt converged on Trek as one, leaving a smoking crater in his chest armor, and knocking Trek out for the count.

Raven emerged from the shadows, using a tendril of black energy to carry in three unconscious Ravagers. "He's trying to escape," she droned and pointed to the armored van that Rza was driving on a collision course with Cyborg's car.

"Oh no you don't!" Cyborg pressed a button on his arm, sending his 'baby' into defense mode. A large sonic cannon emerged on the roof of the vehicle, spewing a stream of blue energy that completely obliterated both right tires of the armored van.

The loss of two wheels instantly sent the vehicle into a slant that caught Rza off guard. "AAAH!" He spun the steering wheel to the left, a mistake, the van fell on its side, skidding to a stop just a few scant feet from Cyborg's car.

Beastboy morphed into a gorilla, jumped onto the van, and ripped the door off its hinges. With snarl, he yanked Rza out of vehicle and dumped onto the ground.

Rza crawled along the floor pathetically as the Teen Titans surrounded him. He cried out when Robin seized him by the scruff of his collar. "H-Hey man! I-I-I give up already!"

The playfulness had left Robin's face. White eyeslits narrowed as he fixed the older man before him with a glare taught unto him by one of the world's best heroes. "Despair! Tell me where to find Despair!"

Rza shook his head vigorously. "I-I can't tell you that! He'll...he'll..."

"It'll be nothing compared to what I do to you if you don't tell me what I want to hear!"

Rza cast a hopeful glance at the other Titans. Their gazes were just as stern and remorseless. "O-Okay! Okay! I'll tell...just...just let me go!"

With a snort of disgust, Robin relinquished his hold. "Spill."

"D-Desapir's hideout is..." Rza never got the chance to finish his sentence. It's kind of hard to when your missing a large portion of your throat. Rza dropped dead from the laser blast as smoke and the scent of charred flesh wafted up into the Titan's noses, but they were occupied with following the path the blast had come from. What they saw made their eyes widen.

A Sladebot was crouched on the rafters, holding a smoking laser gun in one claw and in the other...

"Detonator!" Robin yelled.

Click...

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A few miles away stood a figure on a rooftop. It watched through a pair of binoculars as a warehouse on the harbor erupted into a massive fireball. "Heh, that was too easy," a male voice muttered. The demise of Rza and a few lackies were of no concern to him. Hired goons were incredibly cheap and fairly easy to come by, and as for a replacement for Rza, nothing he couldn't handle. Rza had been a fool. Despair had warned him numerous times. Those who couldn't learn the basics when it came to the underworld were doomed to have very short lifespans. A cruel smile graced his lips as he continued to watch from afar to see the fate of the ones inside though it seemed fairly obvious. No human could survive a blast as powerful as that, but then these weren't normal humans. 

Despair smiled.

To be continued...

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A/N: This fic will be taking place before the Birthmark episode. As for romance and couples...I've got a fairly good idea of who I want together but it'll take sometime to see anything major happen. Nothing too lovey dovey though folks so don't fret. Reviews are greatly appreciated. 


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